Restless- William Boyd

“Boyd is a first-rate storyteller and this is a first-rate story…An utterly absorbing page-turner” The Times.

It is 1939. Eva Delectorskaya is a beautiful 28-year-old Russian émigrée living in Paris. As war breaks out she is recruited for the British Secret Service by Lucas Romer, a mysterious Englishman, and under his tutelage she learns to become the perfect spy, to mask her emotions and trust no one, including those she loves most. Since the war, Eva has carefully rebuilt her life as a typically English wife and mother. But once a spy, always a spy. Now she must complete one final assignment, and this time Eva can’t do it alone: she needs her daughter’s help.

I literally could not put this novel down. Spy novels are not usually my thing, and I bought it only because it was featured in Richard and Judy’s Book Club.
The story jumps between past and present, each chapter telling us a little more of Eva’s secrets, which we learn alongside her daughter Ruth. In this way, there are two heroines, both immensely likable. The plot is full of twists and turns, drawing the reader deeply into its intrigue. I was quickly absorbed by the world of spying and like Eva, trusted no one and suspected everybody!
One disappointment for me was that promising subplots involving a student of Ruth’s and the uncle of her son came to nothing.
I loved the ending however, and intend to read more William Boyd.
This novel was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2006.

"Restless is enormously readable in every respect: a confident, intelligent, ambitious novel" Guardian.